Michael has been an active advocate of the mission of the National Institute on Media and the Family since 1997, originally as a media rater for the MediaWise® KidScore® program.

Michael's extensive storytelling and public speaking experience creates an engaging environment for adults and children. He does workshops, keynotes and presentations on a variety of MediaWise programs, including:

-Creating Media Wise Kids

-Values and Attitudes in the Media

-Roots and Wings: The Challenge of Adolescence

-Whoever Tells the Stories Defines the Culture

-Internet Safety

Michael presents to more than 15,000 children and adults each year, and has appeared on Channel 9's Good Morning Minnesota, KARE 11 TV, and Twin Cities Public Television. He has been the subject of feature articles in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Michael's recent keynotes and presentations include the Midwest School Violence Prevention Conference, MN State Head Start Conference, MN Teachers of Social Studies Conference, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and the MN School Age Child Care Association Healthy Children, Healthy Communities Conference.

Michael was a nominee for the Anne Richardson Reading is Fundamental national award and is currently working in the area of storytelling and emergent literacy. As a founding member of Cygnus Storytelling, he worked with the families and staff of the Waldorf Schools to develop a family storytelling curriculum. He is past president of the Northlands Storytelling Network, and on the artist rosters of COMPAS Global Arts Presentations, Artists to Go, and the Minnesota Story Alliance. Michael is an active member of the National Storytelling Network, where he participates in the "Stories in Organizations" special interest group.

Michael and his wife, Vicki, live in Minneapolis and have four children, Jennifer, Laura, John, and Tim, and a grandson, Jackson.